Dangerous Fictions, Lyta Gold
Dangerous Fictions, Lyta Gold
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Dangerous Fictions
The Fear of Fantasy and the Invention of Reality

Author: Lyta Gold

Narrator: Amy O'Donnell

Unabridged: 11 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/29/2024

Synopsis

In a political moment when social panics over literature are at their peak, Dangerous Fictions is a mind-expanding treatise on the nature of fictional stories as cultural battlegrounds for power. Fictional stories have long held an uncanny power over hearts and minds, especially those of young people. In Dangerous Fictions, Lyta Gold traces arguments both historical and contemporary that have labeled fiction as dark, immoral, frightening, or poisonous. Within each she asks: How “dangerous” is fiction, really? And what about it provokes waves of moral panic and even censorship? Gold argues that any panic about art is largely a disguised panic about power. There have been versions of these same fights over fiction for centuries. By exposing fiction as a social danger and a battleground of immediate public concern, we can see what each side really wants—the right to shape the future of a world deeply in flux and a distraction from more pressing material concerns about money, access, and the hard work of politics. From novels about people driven insane by reading novels to “copaganda” TV shows that influence how viewers regard the police, Gold uses her signature wit, research, and fearless commentary to point readers toward a more substantial question: Fiction may be dangerous to us, but aren’t we also dangerous to it?

About Lyta Gold

Lyta Gold is a critic, essayist, and fiction writer living in Queens. Her work has appeared in The Baffler, Protean, the New York Review of Architecture, and Current Affairs.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jillian on February 16, 2025

I picked up this book thinking it would be about book bans, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out it goes much deeper. This book is full of musings about the nature of fiction, the ways fictional stories have been portrayed as dangerous over the years, and the degree to which the fictional medi......more

Goodreads review by J. (JL) on December 13, 2024

I thoroughly enjoyed this critical inquiry into how narrative fiction shapes, and is shaped by, reality. Especially the relationship between speculative fiction and political action. I suppose part of this might be the fact that some of the favorite material we covered this semester for my master's......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on December 12, 2024

I think this book goes on for longer than it should...a judicious edit could have condensed its final quarter, which was beginning to lose my interest. That said, the rest of the book is a superb examination of how the right wing (and occasionally the hard core left) is attempting to hijack narrativ......more

Goodreads review by Melodie on January 04, 2025

I picked this up at the library randomly yesterday and read it breathlessly in two sittings. I was shocked that it has so few reviews on Goodreads, but then - considering Gold’s relentless criticism of both the publishing industry and also Amazon - perhaps that isn’t true. This is a smart, current b......more

Goodreads review by Robbie on March 06, 2025

I overall enjoyed this book. I think it prompted some really good thinking in areas that I hadn't considered before and would be a great starting point for kicking off future conversations. I appreciated learning about the history of book banning, including the seemingly cyclical waves of complaints......more

Quotes

[N]arrator Amy O'Donnell asks why stories, which by their very nature aren't true, are so often considered evil . . . These challenging, edgy discussions are entertaining, often personal, and very tasty food for thought.

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